In February 2017, Susan Fowler wrote a blog post exposing the egregious sexual harassment she experienced while working as an engineer at Uber. She never expected that millions of people would read her post or care that her boss propositioned her for sex.
Fowler helped spark tech’s MeToo movement that led to several DEI commitments, including the hiring of and investment into more women and underrepresented-led startups, closing the pay gaps for women and BIPOC employees, etc.
Six years later, we have little progress to show, proving that you can’t have a return on investment on performative allyship.
Why performative DEI has failed
The latest data from the State of Women in Tech and Startups report by the nonprofit Women Who Tech, which I founded, shows that 42% of women working in tech have experienced harassment. Additionally, 70% of women founders told us they’ve been treated differently while raising funding for their startup because of their gender.
As tech companies and VCs head into 2024 to manifest business goals, it’s important to understand why DEI has failed. DEI has historically been viewed as a project, and projects have end dates. It’s never been recognized as an imperative to foster genuine allyship and build truly inclusive practices into the DNA of companies, startups, and funds that empower underrepresented voices, drive innovation, and promote a culture of authenticity.
In 2020, DEI job listings increased by 123% after the Black Lives Matter protests sparked more funding for Black founders and hiring. However, the investments were couch-cushion change. According to Black Tech Project research, which looked at several companies’ investments such as Apple, Alphabet/Google, and Meta, each of them was able to make their DEI financial investments back in profits within one to six days. In 2023, as the economy faced uncertainty, DEI budgets were the first to be slashed, and many DEI positions were cut.
As Gen Z, the most racially diverse generation enters the workforce, the fake allyship that’s been used to bury DEI issues is highly problematic. In fact, a Monster survey found that 83% of Gen Z candidates said that a company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is important when choosing an employer.
Hiring DEI officers, establishing inclusive spaces, and overpromising funding that never gets deployed won’t move the needle–actual capital will. However, $80 trillion are under management in the U.S. (representing money managed by pension funds, family offices, foundations, and endowments), according to a Knight Diversity of Asset Managers study. 98.6%, of that sum is managed by white men. It’s no coincidence that only 2% of VC funding goes to women-led startups, and less than 0.4% goes to Black women-founded companies.
This lack of progress aligns with Women Who Tech’s study. We found that 65% of founders have been told that they’d be more likely to get funded if they were a man or had a cofounder who was a man. 47% of Black women founders say they’ve experienced harassment. Overall, 40% of women founders say they’ve experienced harassment, just a meager 4% decrease since 2017. Nearly half of those women (47%) say they’ve experienced harassment at least six times or more. And 50% of women who were sexually harassed shared that they have been propositioned for sex in exchange for funding or support.
Will new legislation and laws help Big Tech and VC be more inclusive?
Even with data showing that diverse-led startups and companies generate higher ROI, we aren’t moving the needle. I spoke to Christian F. Nunes, the President of National NOW.
“The key to change is accountability. Tech companies (and VCs) must be held to their inclusion commitments towards women. Otherwise, where’s the incentive to follow through? It doesn’t matter if everyone ‘has a seat at the table’ if women’s voices are not being heard and acted upon,” Nunes said.
A new California law will now require diversity reporting for venture capital and private equity firms. Yinka Faleti, a partner at Ascend Venture Capital, told me “I suspect some VC firms are not even tracking this data for themselves in any systematic way. This law would change that. By doing so, I’m hopeful this law will be a catalyst to encourage greater diversity among founding teams of VC portfolio companies,” said Faleti, who also formerly served as executive director of Forward Through Ferguson.
Will more states be next? Massachusetts House and Senate are considering an Act Relative to Fair Investment Practices to spur more investment into diverse-led startups and extend workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination protections to venture capital and investor relationships.
Women in tech are tired of being overlooked in favor of allyship theater. As Cindy Gallop of MLNP, put it, “Are you the kind of investor/company that talks about supporting women and underrepresented people in tech, or are you the kind that writes checks?”
Allyson Kapin, the founder of Women Who Tech, co-founder of Rad Campaign, and a GP at W Fund, leads grassroots movements to bolster diversity in the tech and startup sectors; she is an active investor in women-led and BIPOC startups. The National Organization for Women is a partner of Rad Campaign.
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